This is a country song about morals and domestic violence. I’ve seen a lot of reaction videos by people trying to understand it. It’s a very well written song and well made video because they tell a story on multiple levels.
Hardy the artist writes himself into the story as the protagonist. He writes the chorus from the woman’s point of view. His choices in words in writing the song make it sound like he has a lot of familiarity with domestic violence.
“She didn’t tell the whole truth but she didn’t have to/ I knew what had happened to her/ I didn’t load her down with questions/ That girl had been through enough…” Hardy the protagonist recognizes domestic violence right away and knows how to help her. “He was hell bent to find the man behind all the whiskey scars I hid…” “But I knew right then I’d never get hit again…” “Whiskey scars” is a euphamism for “injuries caused by domestic abuse by an alcoholic”. “I’d never get hit again” is what you want when “I wouldn’t get hit again” means, “You wouldn’t get hit again if you’d just do what I say.”
“Well I knocked and knocked but no one came/ So I kicked in his double wide door/ I let the hammer drop before he got to the 12 he was reaching for…” Why would Hardy the protagonist be so ready to snap like he did? He meets a woman at random and about 10 or 15 minutes later he shoots her husband dead. But remember how he sings about domestic violence as if he’s already been affected by it.
“It’s been sixty months but she still comes to see me from time to time…” 60 months is exactly 5 years. But prison sentences are assigned in months. You have to think about prison a lot to think of five years as sixty months.
“Have mercy on me lord…” Hardy the protagonist did what he felt was right at the moment. He didn’t try to escape afterwards and hoped the court would understand. Even though they sentenced him to prison anyway, he still feels like he did the right thing overall according to the morality of his religion. When you have to choose between obeying the law or adhering to your morals, which one do you pick?
Does this song advocate killing domestic abusers? Or does it help start a discussion about domestic abuse? Domestic abuse is a problem that law enforcement isn’t well prepared to solve. You need social workers working with law enforcement for that. Most people would say that Hardy the protagonist did the right thing overall by helping the woman and stopping her abuser for good. So what else can people do to help people get out of abusive relationships without going to prison?
At the same time, this song is a warning to abusers. Abusers understand power. If you live in rural America and you beat your wife, and she escapes and meets just one person at random, that person is probably going to be a Christian who owns a gun and who loves country music. And he’s going to have about 100 friends and relatives who are also Christian gun owners who love country music and who agree with the message of this song overall. And if the person she meets is a domestic abuse survivor who’s never felt like he got even with his abuser, he might settle for getting even with you instead.
Abusers succeed by isolating their victims. People get out of abusive relationships, or don’t get stuck in them in the first place, by having people on their side who can help them. This song makes it easier for people to get other people on their side.
